Marc Dewease
I am a licensed professional christian counselor. I integrate a scriptural foundation with emperically proven counseling therapies. My focus is on but not limited to crisis, trauma, and PTSD; victims and perpatrators of domestic violence including sexual, physical, mental, emotional, and psychological; and anxiety, stress, and depression. I work with adults, mostly over 21 years old. I work with individuals, people who are in relationships, and couples. I prioritize military, first responders, and their families.
First session
My goal is to help the client feel comfortable and safe. I want them to experience a nonbiased and nonjudgmental environment. I want them to realize there are alternatives to experiencing hopelessness. At the end of the first session I ask individuals and couples if they are comfortable enough to come again. For individauls and couples, I want them to experience a reason to come back for more.
Strengths
I was one of those who had been injured by a comment made by a caregiver. I was very young at the time, and it caused me to develop a self defenseive posture and behavior. I would do anything that would protect me from being injured, knowing the consequences would be bad whether I admitted my fault or denied it. I soon realized I could deny my behavior and at least have a 50/50 chance of avoiding the negative consequences. During that time I discovered pornography and it gave me the false sense of pleasure and more importantly, a sense of control. It took several years for me to see the damage it was doing as well as the event that led to the addiction. I reached out to a local church when I began to spiral out of control, and through compassion and spiritual guidance as well as accepting personal responsibility with blame or guilt I began to experience the freedom of thinking for myself and making my own decisions without the inner voice reminding me of my past. I reinvested myself into my Christian roots, believes, values and prinicples because I began to see how it made a difference in my life. I changed when the difficulty of recovery was not as difficult as the difficulty of the addiction.
Ideal clients
The ideal client is one that is willing to discuss what brought them to counseling. It isn't about "What is wrong with you," it's about "What happened to you," even if it was their own choices that caused the issue. Vulnerability is essential, and a willingness to expose themselves to their personal fears, guilt, and shame. I would like for them to be honest, candid, hopefully have a sense of humor, and able to take constructive advise even if it held constructive criticism from an unbiased observation. Additionally, they would need to be receptive to critical input that focuses directly on the issue(s) rather than deflecting into another less important topic.
Treatment methods
EMDR
EMDR is a primary but not the only method I use. It is helpful because it can center a persons focus on root issues that create stress, anxiety, depression, etc. The concept is to have the client begin by focusing on one issues and develop a network of related evnets that are connected to the primary issue. CPT is a good alternative to those individuals who may not tolerate or acclimate to EMDR. It has the same focus, looking at the root of the problem and developing alternative positive and truthful beliefs and thoughts.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT plays a role in it because EMDR is designed to hlep people cope with the cause of their problem and CBT helps them develop alternatives to their maladaptive beliefs and behaviors.
Cognitive Processing (CPT)
CPT is a good alternative to those individuals who may not tolerate or acclimate to EMDR. It has the same focus, looking at the root of the problem and developing alternative positive and truthful beliefs and thoughts.
Faith based therapy
Faith-based therapy is understanding how investing in spiritual concepts can assist with making changes in daily living. Coupled with an emperically proven therapy it provides a foundation of trust in the therapy without the concept of being inconsistant with personal beliefs. Often people will have a misconception of how their faith influences their thinking, and neglect to considering the true meaning of freedom in their faith.
Gottman method
Gottman is very effective is assisting couples with discovering weaknesses in their relationshp and things that can affect them individually that have a negative effect on their relationship.
Location
Virtual sessions
In-person sessions3651 E Baseline Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85234, E120